Introducing Hermeticism and Tarot

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When I first started this website, it’s because my weekly Tarot-reading gig at the Press Club was ending and I was eager to find some way to grow and continue my Tarot business. What I didn’t realize at the time was that my Friday afternoons at the Press Club were something special. They may never be replaced. My Tarot reading business never grew after that, but instead has settled into a fairly regular schedule. About once per month, I read cards at Pairings Portland. I also have a few regular customers and I get some jobs at parties here and there, but this is never going to be my main business nor keep me busy.

After coming to this realization, it was time to make a change in the direction of this website. I will be writing here about Hermeticism and the Tarot. Primarily, I will focus on Hermeticism and the Hermetic arts. I want to introduce you to the ars memorativa,1 theurgy, thaumaturgy, and their connection to the Tarot. For now, enjoy this video that might give you an idea of the subjects we will be exploring on this website.

  1. I usually call this the ars memoriae.  ↩

Astrology Night: Libra at Pairings Portland

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Date/Time
Date(s) - Oct 7, 2015
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Location
Pairings Portland

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Pairings Portland has been running some interesting events pairing wine with astrological signs. Join us for an evening of astrological wine pairing and inspirational Tarot!

We take 20 traits of Libra and divide them up into five groupings. Each group will get a wine paired to it, creating a five wine Libra flight!

Even if you’re not a Libra, you’ll still love the wine!

The flight will be $20, but if you’re a Libra, and you bring a full-paying friend, you get your tasting for free! Even if you don’t bring a friend, if you’re a Libra you’ll get $5 off the flight

I will be offering Tarot readings at my standard table prices:

  • $10 for a short reading (3 cards, about 10 minutes)
  • $20 for a full reading (9 cards, 20+ minutes)

Check out the Facebook event at this link.

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Walpurgisnacht Tarot and German Wine!

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685px-Praetorius_Blocksberg
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Date/Time
Date(s) - Apr 30, 2015
3:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Location
Pairings Portland

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Die Hexen zu dem Brocken ziehn,
Die Stoppel ist gelb, die Saat ist grün.
Dort sammelt sich der große Hauf,
Herr Urian sitzt oben auf.
So geht es über Stein und Stock,
Es farzt die Hexe, es stinkt der Bock.1

It is said that on Walpurgisnacht, the night before May 1st, the walls between our world and the spirit world are thin. Legends say that witches used to meet on the peak of the Brocken for big witch-parties every Walpurgisnacht.

Join us at Pairings Portland on Walpurgisnacht for Tarot and a delicious German wine tasting! Jeff will be pouring 5 different German wines, and Reverend Erik will be reading Tarot cards.

The German wine flight will cost $15 for 5 wines. All will be available by the glass or bottle!

Tarot readings will be $10 for a short reading or $20 for a full reading.

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  1. From Goethe’s Faust. ↩

Tarot & Wine Update

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The starting time for the Tarot & Wine – Spring Renewal event tomorrow has been changed to 4:00 pm. That’s about the time people start showing up, so I don’t anticipate the change affecting anybody’s schedules. If you were planning to come earlier, please contact me and we can arrange something.

Jeff over at Pairings Portland has revealed the wines that will be paired with my Tarot reading! Check them out. They sound delicious.

Tarot & Wine - Spring Renewal Tasting

Coming Soon: Tarot & Wine – Spring Renewal

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Tarot & Wine - Spring RenewalOn March 20th, we will be returning to Pairings Portland!

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Date/Time
Date(s) - Mar 20, 2015
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Location
Pairings Portland

Categories


Pairings Portland will once again be hosting Tarot & Wine! This time, Reverend Erik drew five cards to represent the renewing energies of Spring. What interesting and amazing wines will be paired with the cards?

The five cards for this pairing are the VIII of Swords, the Queen and King of Pentacles, the King of Cups, and the Queen of Wands.

The five-wine flight paired with these cards will be $15. Tarot readings will be $10. Please join us in celebrating the new season!

Check out the Facebook event for more information.

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Alejandro Jodorowsky on Tarot and Memory

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Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky is well-known to Tarotists because of his 1973 surrealist film The Holy Mountain. Recently, the esteemed filmmaker published a book titled Manual of Psychomagic: The Practice of Shamanic Psychotherapy. An excerpt of the book is available on Disinformation.

In the excerpt, Jodorowsky talks about his approach to reading cards.

“I turned the Tarot reading into a kind of synthetic psychoanalysis that I call “tarology.” Essentially, the goal of tarology is not to guess the future but rather, guided by the Arcana, question the consultant about the past in order to help him or her solve current problems.”
Alejandro Jodorowsky

This is an intelligent approach, and it’s definitely similar to my own approach, which I call “Arnemancy.”1 Even more interesting, though, is his approach to using the Tarot to explore and interact with memory. He associates memory with the inner world, and states that the goal of his technique is to “act, not just talk.”

A Tarotist interfaces with his inner world through the imagery of the cards. Using tools of visualization, actively interacting with the creation and use of memory is a powerful and effective tool. There are probably many techniques for memory work, but my favorite is the Art of Memory. As I have said before, every effective Tarotist should include mnemotechnics in his toolbox.

  1. Hopefully you have determined that “Arnemancy” is a tongue-in-cheek label. ↩

Tarot and the SE Area ARTWalk

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SE Area Art Walk

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Date/Time
Date(s) - Feb 28, 2015 - Mar 1, 2015
10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Location
Lucky No. 3: an Arts Boutique

Categories


I’ll be at Lucky No. 3: an Arts Boutique for the 12th annual Southeast Portland Art Walk.

This event takes place from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, February 28th, and Sunday, March 1st. Artists, studios, and galleries from all over Southeast Portland will be participating! Read more at the SE Area ARTWalk website.

Lucky No. 3 will be hosting at least three artists. In addition, I’ll have a table reading Tarot cards. Even better, I’ll be doing readings for tips only! That means you just leave me whatever you think the reading is worth, even if it’s just a cookie. I don’t accept pets or children as payment.

Please come on by! The art gallery is really great and the entire walk is a blast.

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Friday the 13th: Wine, Tarot & Creepy Jazz at Pairings Portland

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Wine, Tarot, and Creepy Jazz
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Date/Time
Date(s) - Feb 13, 2015
2:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Location
Pairings Portland

Categories


Arnemancy and Pairings Portland is combining a 5-wine tasting flight and Tarot readings like we’ve done before. However, we will also be celebrating Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day!

The Tarot Readings

For $10, you will get a 3-card reading, and this will be a good day for readings about the odd, unusual, and creepy. It will also be a great time for romance readings! What will the cards tell you about your love life? What will your cards tell you about the shoggoth living in your basement? Come and find out!

Wine and Snacks

Jeffrey Weissler of Pairings Portland has put together a great flight of wines for this auspicious event. Here is his description:

  1. A Tarot card chosen for the day.
  2. The Numerology of Friday the 13th. More specifically 2/13/2015.
  3. A wine paired to Pisces, the current Sun sign.
  4. The personality of our fabulous Tarot Reader, Erik L. Arneson! (That’s me!) 
  5. A wine paired to chocolate, because chocolate rocks and it’s the night before Valentine’s Day!

The wine flight will cost $20 and includes a Missionary Chocolates truffle and entry into a drawing for Pairings Portland’s excellent Pairings Basic Class.

Creepy Jazz

I’ll be done with Tarot readings for the evening at 8pm. Following me are Melissa Carroll and Corey Heppner, with some “Creepy Jazz” from 8-10pm. There is no cover!

As you can see, this will be a fun event. Working with Jeff has been a blast. He’s always coming up with new creative things to do. Come and see what we’re up to this time!

Check out the event on Facebook and Meetup to learn more!

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Read More about Tarot and the Art of Memory

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I recently wrote about the Art of Memory on this blog, and it’s an ongoing interest of mine. Robert O’Neill has a surprisingly complicated article about Tarot and the Art of Memory on Tarot.com. I’m not sure why I didn’t come across it before. It’s worth a read.

Though O’Neill has a great collection of references, where his article really shines is in the in-depth discussion of the creation of memory images. Check it out.

Learning Tarot with the Art of Memory

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The Art of Memory, or ars memoriæ, is a mnemonic technique dating from classical Greece. The technique improves upon our natural memory through discipline, planning, and visualization skills. One of its core methods involves a memory palace, in which memorized architectural details are used to store striking images that aid recall.1 The memory palace technique has been popularized in popular fiction by characters such as Hannibal Lecter and BBC’s latest Sherlock Holmes.

Let’s look at how the Art of Memory relates to the study and use of Tarot.
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  1. I won’t discuss the technique fully here. The Wikipedia entry on the Art of Memory is a great starting point, however. ↩